


Sideline Stories: Reflections (Kimberly)

by UnicornAffair



Series: Wild Pitch [10]
Category: Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/F, Sandlot AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2017-12-17
Packaged: 2019-02-15 21:48:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13040109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnicornAffair/pseuds/UnicornAffair
Summary: A girl can never truly get over ruining someone else's life. All it took for Kimberly was an old enemy bringing up a girl's name for Kimberly to collapse back into herself. She was so fortunate to have a girl like Trini in her life, someone who can look past her greatest mistake.For Context Chapter 18 of Wild Pitch: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10638636/chapters/29589696





	Sideline Stories: Reflections (Kimberly)

**Author's Note:**

> So I'm totally full of shit and wrote out a sideline story from Kimberly's point of view. I know I said I wouldn't do one between chapters 18-19 but :D oopsie.

Waking up in Trini’s arms after an exhausting and emotionally draining walk had been just what the doctor had ordered. Kimberly told her girlfriend everything, _everything_ about her past with Tommy...with the pregnancy scare out in the open she could relax, Trini time and time again proved to be amazing. She wasn’t used to anyone she dated _being_ there for her. Whenever things got ugly or slightly embarrassing Tommy would always leave Kimberly in the lurch to deal with it on her own. Ty had bought drugs at a party, he deserved to be punched in the mouth, it wasn’t like her dad didn’t put his tooth back into place.

It was easy for Kimberly to get wrapped up in a new relationship, she trusted Trini, she fell in love quickly with the girl who learned of her past mistakes and didn’t leave her. Getting back into an old past time healed the wounds left by the cheerleading squad. As a pitcher, Kimberly felt like she was getting her power back, no more drowning her guilty sorrows at parties. Trini had watched her grow into a better person, so when she dropped that ball during that fateful game...Kimberly fell back and closed herself off, focusing on a goal rather than giving in to emotions. She put her mind into fixing up the Angel Grove softball field. When she graduates, Kimberly wanted to leave the school as someone more than the girl who stabbed her friend in the back.

She wished that she could spend every morning wrapped up in covers, with nothing but the company of her girlfriend. To be alone, to feel the warmth of Trini’s body, her chest rising and falling with every breath...she hadn’t realized how much she missed the simplest of touches. It had always been easy for Kimberly, post Tommy, to use boys as a distraction. Making out on Ty’s couch was for _fun_ , for social power. After a pregnancy scare she didn’t want to risk getting too attached...that was until a ghost from her past hit her like a goddamn freight train. With Trini, it was okay to feel vulnerable, to _feel_ anything.

Then she found out that Jason had been staying at the Gomez house for getting into an argument with his father. That, like her, was also--by Trini’s definition possibly bisexual. All this time she was so busy with closing in on herself that she didn’t take note of what was going on around her. With Jason…..Amanda too, she really needed to get the chance to talk to them. Of course that required getting out of bed, easier said than done with Trini looking as adorable as she did in Lauren’s oversized red flannel pajamas. Real life could be put on hold, just for a bit longer.

 

*****

 

Coming off of a big softball win in the clash of the cats, a party at Tommy Oliver’s house seemed to be a great way to celebrate. She and Trini were back together in a good space, and the softball team had just started to gel again. After crushing the Summer Cove Wildcats, this was a team that had a real shot at the playoffs….Kimberly only wished she would have more opportunities to pitch. She really let Trini’s ex-girlfriend, Kira get into her head, that was a mistake.

This party was a chance to start letting loose again, to have fun. She moved on to a new life, one where she could play softball instead of cheer on the sidelines. Kimberly had such great friends from her childhood, Amanda let her back into her life after betraying Megan and she was the luckiest girl in the world to have someone like Trini as a girlfriend. The last time she really drank was at the football party in the fall, it was time that she tried again...that chapter of her life was closed. Now she could join up with Tori Hanson and try to beat Zack and Amanda at beer pong. Life was _good_ again.

That was until she saw her face….the face of an old friend, Rebecca Golloway on the arm of Briarwood’s baseball captain. Kimberly was instantly filled with dread, every bad thing she had done in her past started to plague her mind. A party meant to be fun suddenly turned into a battlefield when the cheerleaders started to partake in a game called ‘I never’. Rebecca wasted no time in revealing the sins of Kimberly’s past. Every drink was for another life she ruined in middle school, in high school. It was a public shaming for the Briarwood captains amusement. Every now and again Kimberly would glance over to Trini, which awful thing would be the one for Trini to just give up on her-that she was such a terrible person that she wasn’t worth it anymore. Trini would sneak drinks between questions and steal a glance in Kimberly’s direction, offering a small smile...she wasn’t going anywhere.

“I’ve never sent a nude photo of a _friend_ out to my boyfriend and let it go viral” Rebecca glared harshly in Kimberly’s direction. She would _never_ let Kimberly forget what she did to Megan. Time and time again she was reminded of the _one_ thing in her past she wished she could take back but couldn’t. Kimberly drank….taking a longer swig than she normally would have. Sure, the quartet of cheerleaders did _awful_ things in the past. They were bullies, they had fun bringing people down or leaving horrible comments on social media, they couldn’t be _touched_ by people under them. It was petty, it was stupid, but _nothing_ compared to what Kimberly did to Megan Faherty...one of her close friends when she pushed the send button.

The Briarwood cheerleaders looked at Kimberly like she just stabbed a puppy in front of them. She broke a girl code, she broke the code of being a good person. Kimberly Hart was a fucking bitch, but so was Rebecca Golloway. The cheerleader smirked at her victory, she just _loved_ bringing down Kimberly the one way she knew how...with her own mistake. As Megan’s best friend, she used to use the photo for fuel for a cruel sense of justice; now it was a cheap low blow. With the game she wanted to take down Kimberly and Amanda in a one two shot, to prove that _she_ was better than them; that when Charlie graduated she had the balls to be the new head cheerleader of the Briarwood Bulls. A position she always wanted, and resented Kimberly for having.

When Amanda’s secret of what she had to resort to in order to keep her grades up and stay on the squad surfaced. Kimberly was _done_ playing the victim, _Rebecca_ couldn’t be the one to hold this sort of power over her. “Fuck you Becca, that was low” She set down her now empty cup, between that and the amount of alcohol she had consumed while playing beer pong with Tori, Zack and Amanda was starting to take an effect. No holding back now, not when Rebecca was aiming to take down her friends.

“You’d know, you’re the queen of _low_ .” The Briarwood cheerleader still harbored a grudge against Kimberly, she was _so_ ready to go toe to toe with her ex-friend, “You’re nothing but a self centered bitch” Takes one to know one.

Always having her back, Kimberly’s girlfriend spoke up. “That’s rich. You want to talk sharing a photo? You fucking _outed_ me to the whole school. Humiliated me. Get off your high horse you fucking troll”

“Oh as if that _actually_ can compare to what Kimmy did” Rebecca’s eyes narrowed to Trini across from her, “Think of what I did as a _public service announcement_ .” Kimberly’s jaw clenched, she slapped this bitch once, she could do it again in a heartbeat. It was one thing to come after her, but to go after _Trini_? Hell no.

“You’re not even a natural blonde” Amanda threw in her two cents, she had walked to the corner of the room and filled a shot glass full of straight up vodka. It was a dumb dig, but one that shook Rebecca long enough to put a hand to her head, Kimberly stopped in her tracks, Amanda was clearly up to something. Both teams were watching her, waiting to see what she would do, in spirit of the game they were playing Amanda offered the shot glass to an old friend. “I never had an _ass explosion_ while trying anal” Angel Grove’s head cheerleader smiled sweetly, this was _her_ team now, “Drink up sweetie” Rebecca’s jaw dropped, completely stunned, she could feel _everyone’s_ eyes on her at the complete call out. With one of her secrets now out in the open the shot of pure vodka was _needed_ . Any, _any_ points she scored with Charlie quickly went down the tubes. Amanda took the empty glass from her, “And stop pulling this _shit_ ” Amanda Clark, captain of the Angel Grove cheerleading squad _finally_ grew a backbone. She was done playing this stupid game.

In a small voice Trini announced, “I gotta break the seal” and left the cheerleaders to their own drama.

“Wow Becca” Charlie had to hide her laughter by taking a long drink, it was hard to look at her new recruit the same way knowing that kind of intel.

Kimberly, Amanda, Rebecca and Megan shared a _lot_ of intimate details on their sex lives, as best friends that was just natural conversation between the four of them. It was an unspoken rule that whatever was _said_ at a sleepover _stayed_ at a sleepover. Rebecca made the mistake of revealing one of Amanda’s escapades and got knocked back hard, never break a girl code. Amanda finally could put getting framed for a hate crime behind her, sure, Kimberly was a huge help in rectifying the wrong but it didn’t change the fact that she was stabbed in the back. KARM used to _mean_ something special, the four girls spent all of their time together for _years_.

A loud crash from downstairs drew curious cheerleaders out of the arena of social secret spilling. Mike Fernandez had punched Nick Russell so hard in the face that the Briarwood boy snapped a table with his body. In a team situation, whenever one member went down it meant everyone else had to stand up and retaliate...it didn’t matter who was right and who was wrong in the scenario. Fraternity rules apply, no one messes with brotherhood, especially not the likes of the neighboring town. With a fist fight breaking out between baseball players and softball players, the cheerleaders needed to see what was happening for themselves. Amanda needed to be sure her boyfriend would be coming out of this party in tact. This was the perfect opportunity for Kimberly to grab Rebecca’s arm and pull her aside.

“Are you done?” Kimberly narrowed her eyes, every time Rebecca tried to make a power play she was knocked down by her own karma. “Because you _need_ to let this go, and get the hell over it”

“Is that what you want me to tell Megan?” Rebecca’s blue eyes found Kimberly’s brown, she forcibly ripped her arm away from her ex-friend. Kimberly frozen at the dropped name of their redheaded friend, “To get the hell over it? You _ruined_ her life Kim. She doesn’t even cheer anymore. At her new school she’s miserable, an absolute no-body with losers and rejects as her friends. We’re not even.”

“I feel _terrible_ about what happened” Kim would _always_ carry around the weight of her mistakes, but it wasn’t Rebecca’s job to be Megan’s crusader.

“Yeah, yeah you look like you’re _real_ sorry with your new shiny life” Rebecca may have been taken down publically by Amanda but here it was just the two of them, “You look _so_ miserable. Kimberly Hart _still_ manages to be Angel Grove’s _princess._ How are things with the little girlfriend? I see _that’s_ still a thing”

She couldn’t be expected to just live the rest of her life a miserable pile of sadness and regret. Kimberly did horrible, awful things in the past and she did everything in her power to try and right those wrongs to do better for herself and her school. It would _never_ make up for what she did to Megan, she knew that, but there had to be a time in their lives where they could start _living_ again. “No. You don’t get to talk about her.” Something about the way Rebecca brought up Trini rubbed Kimberly the wrong way, for someone who was just outed for having a very _very_ unfortunate backdoor encounter she was far too smug.

The door opened revealing a frazzled Gia, wet from the waist down her jeans sticking to her legs. “We gotta go Kim” She motioned with her head to the doorway, “I’ll explain on the way” What the hell was she missing? Rebecca’s laugh was _unsettling_ . Something had happened and the cheerleader was behind it. The senior clicked two and two together quickly and entered the room, “You think you’re a princess? Well I’m a fucking _queen_ and here, you’re in my court” She wasn’t shy, she gladly shoved the fellow blonde away from Kimberly, “You bother my team? You have to deal with _me_ ”

Rebecca rolled her eyes, clearly she had not dealt enough with Gia Moran to know that she was _way_ out of her league here. “Wow the _lezzy_ _softball_ team, I’m shaking”

Kimberly reached for Gia’s arm before she could retaliate, this cycle of crazy drama didn’t need to continue...she didn’t need another friend to get blood on their hands. Gia looked like she was ready to brawl, “What happened?” Kim needed her to focus, she came up here for a reason.

Gia’s jaw squared up, oh she could easily kick Rebecca’s ass to the curb, this bitch was _lucky,_ Trini was more important. “A couple of guys threw Trini in the lake” Trini had to suffer _again_ because of Kimberly’s past mistake. This was all her fault.

“You fucking bitch” Kimberly clenched her fists, the way Rebecca rose her brows in a challenge she _wanted_ a reaction out of her ex-friend. Well, Kimberly wasn’t going to give her that satisfaction. She didn’t want Rebecca to know how this struck her to the chord, she couldn’t let her win. “Take me to her” Gia nodded, sending the tiny blonde one last glare, this wasn’t her business...if Rebecca was dumb enough to start something with _Gia_ , the softball player would sure to be the one who ended it.  

The pair of softball players descended the stairs, the fight between Angel Grove and Briarwood was starting to die down. Mike had just taken his shirt and insisted that the girls should have the right to judge the guys-Nick had a numbering system, why couldn’t they? As fun as that sounded, Kimberly’s mind was in one place. Trini. She needed to be with her, to see if she was okay, to apologize for what had happened...that she was dragged into the swirling hurricane of drama between the four cheerleaders. Kimberly’s heart broke the second she entered Gia’s warmed up car and saw Trini wrapped up in a blanket. She was absolutely drenched in lake water and despite how much her stubborn ass would say she was _fine_ she most certainly wasn’t.

A reassuring kiss quickly turned into much more in the back of Gia’s car, Kimberly was much better at conveying her feelings through physical touch. A kiss could say a thousand words and she wanted Trini to know that she wasn’t alone in this. That she was _right_ here by her side. She was fortunate that Gia _didn’t_ have a comment about them breaking her car rules, she had a task of her own by comforting Emma in the front seat. Trini then rested her head in Kimberly’s lap, despite how gross her hair felt, Kimberly ran her fingers through her locks to soothe her into sleeping. “I can’t thank you guys enough” She kept her voice low, the two girls in the front seat were there when she couldn’t be.

Emma turned her head so she could talk to Kimberly directly, “That’s what friends are for...please don’t blame yourself”

 

*****

 

When everyone had cleared out of the Gomez household, Trini somehow managed to convince her mother to let Kimberly stay. A miracle in itself, it was a school night. Kimberly laid on the air mattress and stared at the darkness of Trini’s ceiling. She couldn’t heed Emma and Gia’s advice, to not blame herself for this. At the core, the reason for all of this was one photo. Trini didn’t _do_ anything wrong, she was bullied twice to the extreme by Rebecca because of something Kimberly had done in a moment of cattiness. No matter what she tried to do to better her life, there would always be a stain in her past. The image of Megan burned in her mind as she tried to sleep. Kimberly _ruined_ her life, she had given up cheerleading and apparently _wasn’t_ doing well in her new school. The boyfriend Kimberly originally blamed had moved to a different state...she didn’t _deserve_ a girl like Trini to be in her life...

The next morning Kimberly had woken up before her beloved girlfriend, she tried her hardest to get off of the air mattress without making any noise. She smiled fondly, looking down at Trini, when that girl slept she slept like a rock. Kimberly didn’t have the heart to wake her up, instead she went into the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth to get ready for the day. There she found the toothbrush her father had given Trini for winning the dunk tank on valentine's day, a reminder of their first time. ...She probably _wouldn’t_ mind if Kimberly used it. It was a surprise sleepover and Kim didn’t even have clothes to change into. She may not be reigning head cheerleader anymore, but she sure as hell wasn’t going to school wearing one of Trini’s band-tees or the outfit she had worn to school the day before. Absolutely not. Instead she settled on a carolina blue softball hoodie, this day would be about comfort.

Jason was nice enough to offer her a ride to the Oliver house so she could pick up her car, this was a chance for her to be able to talk to him one on one. She knew how confusing sexuality could be, just because she was dating Trini didn’t mean she didn’t have attraction to guys anymore. “...So…” There was really no _casual_ way for a conversational wizard to bring up the whole, hey, do you like guys in a special way without it sounding forced. “What were you and Billy up to last night?”

“Ha” The football player shook his head, the pair of boys left in a bit of a dramatic huff when he learned about what the Bulls did to Trini. He wasn’t going to stand aside and let them get away with that, “We may’ve trashed their locker room” He was proud of what they did, for coming out of retirement. “If you ever need to break into a place, Billy’s your guy” Jason chuckled, he always had a calm reassuring presence. “I’m sorry for not sticking around. Are you okay?”

“Yeah” What a silly question, Kimberly wasn’t the one that was grabbed by two baseball guys, “I’m just tired” From not being able to sleep, for constantly reverting back to these feelings of sickening guilt, for Trini to have another hurdle because of her, “No matter how much I distance myself, there’s always something pulling me back in”

“I’m sorry” He offered, Jason wasn’t always the best at communicating, “If it makes you feel better, she was a really shitty girlfriend” Kimberly had to laugh at that comment, Rebecca only wanted to date Jason because he was an up and coming star on the middle school football team. A way to try and compete with being a cuter couple over Tommy and Kimberly. Rebecca always carried selfish motivations.

“Shucks, and here I thought Jabecca would last a lifetime” Jason cringed at Kimberly combining his name with the devil incarnate, with the ice broken, Kimberly thought it was a good opportunity to make segway, “I have to ask...if you don’t mind. Why are you staying at the Gomez house?”

The pair had breakfast with the Gomez family, June even made Kimberly and Jason lunches to take with them to school that day. It was only a matter of time before the girlfriend found out he was crashing there. Jason cracked his neck and let out a sigh, here we go, “My dad and I got into a fight, you wouldn’t get it” ...Wait, what? If anyone knew what it meant to be bisexual, it was Kimberly. “Your family gets along” He paused, taking a moment to think carefully on his next words, “Your family accepted you for who you are without even blinking” Jason glanced over to her, she clearly had been connecting the dots on her own, “I ah” It wasn’t easy for him to say it out loud, “I like guys” He was quick to add, “I like girls too but I guess...I’m a switch hitter”

Kimberly could appreciate the baseball joke, “Well you know you have a place on my team” With Mia, and Antonio...all they needed was five more people and they could form an _actual_ baseball team. Jason rose a brow at _that_ , well, she thought she was funny. “Hey if you ever need anyone, for anything at all” She reached over and squeezed his forearm in support, “You know you always have me”

Jason stopped his truck at a stoplight, it gave him a moment to look down and away from the road for a couple of seconds, there was more that Kim didn’t quite understand. Something that went beyond an upset father, “How did you know you liked Trini...as more than a friend?” Did Jason Scott have feelings for someone? This car ride just became a little more interesting, “How did you tell her?”

“Wow, okay” Kimberly glanced down to her hands, smiling at the reminder that she was currently wearing her _girlfriend’s_ hoodie. “It was after Tommy Oliver’s football party. You guys were the ones to get me home that night” She recalled, leaning back in the passenger's seat, “Trini stayed with me, slept in my room...held my hair back when I had to puke my guts out the next morning” Oh, how she missed her long hair sometimes, “I hadn’t seen Trini in six years and it was like she never left” All of those sentimental feelings rushed back, “Do you remember when Trini moved away and I had those bracelets made?”

“Ha, yeah mine snapped in the first week” Jason laughed at the memory of those ranger plastic bands that Kimberly found online and had personalized, “I had the red one, because red’s my favorite color” Billy had blue, Tommy had the green one, Zack the black one…Jason remembered Kimberly had the yellow one which left Trini with the pink one.

“Trini still wore hers, after all these years, my _best friend_ came back to me” It was far too early, to have these strong feelings of nostalgia, “She stuck by me when I needed someone the most”

“And it has nothing to do with how hot she got” Jason rose a brow, not completely convinced by Kimberly’s nostalgic motivations. When she frowned he simply tilted his head to the side, “Nothing at all?”

Kimberly smiled, appreciating that Jason didn’t want to get _too_ sappy here, they were only driving to pick up Kimberly’s car. “I’m not blind” Ten year old Trini was a flat chested, gap-toothed, tomboy and while still a tomboy...a phase of braces and puberty _really_ did her favors. “So it was 25/75” She laughed, during the craziness that was softball season she didn’t get as many opportunities to hang out with Jason and Billy. Well, outside of their weekly Saturday detention. “Why do you want to know? About when I fell for her?”

“Just curious” Jason pulled up to the Oliver driveway, the lucky bastard knew Kimberly would have to leave shortly so he wouldn’t have to get into it, “I always like a good love story”

“You’re full of shit Jason Scott” Kimberly was not afraid to call him out on it, “Seriously, if you ever need anything at all” She exited the car but kept the door open, she needed to make her point clear to her friend, “Or advice. If you need girl help or guy help” She had plenty of experience with both, Kimberly smiled, it was nice to be able to be so open about that with someone. “You clearly need to work on your game”

Jason shook his head, smiling he wasn’t offended, he just was not going to get into it with her, “I’ll see you at school” As Kim started to walk away to her car, her back facing him, Jason rolled down the window to shout, “Later Gomez!” ...Ha ha funny Jason, she was just wearing her girlfriend’s hoodie, it wasn’t like it said ‘property of Trini Gomez’ on the front.

 

*****

 

So, apparently wearing the girlfriend’s hoodie around school implied that they got some action. It didn’t matter to Kimberly, she was proud to wear it around...so much so that she didn’t exactly give it back. Sure she had plenty of cheer hoodies just like this one but there had been something comforting about wearing Trini’s...it smelled like her. It being a Friday, Kimberly saw no qualms with wearing it again to school but first she had to stop at Krispy Kreme to pick up some coffees, she was thrilled that this crazy rivalry week would be coming to an end soon. The boys baseball team better the hell win this.

“Kimberly?” While standing in line a woman’s voice caught the ex-cheerleader’s attention. June Gomez, as in Trini’s _mother_ . This wasn’t someone she was expecting. Oh and she was wearing her daughter’s hoodie, this got weird. “I see you found the only thing in my daughter’s closet that doesn’t scream grunge” It wasn’t a secret that June _hated_ the way Trini dressed herself, she was the one that bought the softball hoodie in the first place. It was such a lovely shade of carolina blue.

“Ha” She had no idea what to say to that, but as a Hart and former most popular girl at Angel Grove High she could flash a smile and charm, “She thinks she’s a badass” Which in some respects she was, sure, but to Kimberly she was too adorable and had a cause of pouty face. It was too easy to tease that she had to over compensate for her height.

“Would you like to join me for some coffee?” June offered, “My treat” There was no saying no to the girlfriend’s mother, besides, on a Friday she wasn’t in a complete rush to go to school right away. She could spare fifteen minutes or so talking with Mrs. Gomez, make the stay at home mom’s day more interesting, oh Trini would get such a kick out of this.

June was nice enough to buy Kimberly a cup of coffee, the two never had many chances to interact one on one. Trini obviously was always there, trying to shove Kimberly away as much as possible. The couple usually spent time at the Hart house, as Trini didn’t want to be around her own home. An overbearing mother and two little brothers interrupted too often for them to reacquaint their mouths. It was a shame, Kimberly actually _liked_ going over to the Gomez house, she felt at _home_ there. Kimberly was too used to coming home to an empty house, whereas Trini’s house was always so full of life. Even talking to June felt like such a stark difference from her own mother. It wasn’t that Madison was cold, or harsh, she just...never had the time to ask questions or check up on Kim. June went to _every_ home game while Madison still hadn’t made an appearance. Kimberly couldn’t hold that against her, as a heart surgeon Dr. Hart had much more important things to attend to...literally life and death. It wasn’t fair to ask, softball couldn’t compare. It was just tough. Kimberly’s parent’s didn’t seem to know her much at all and here June was asking her twenty questions. She _cared_ to ask questions.

“How are classes going?” June asked, her smile so warm, so inviting. It wasn’t what Kimberly was used to, “Have you been able to balance your school work and softball?”

“I’ve been doing well” Kimberly _needed_ to, not just to be eligible for remaining on a school team, but if she wanted to get into a good college and be on track for her future she had to have the grades to back her up. A suspension for slapping a fellow student didn’t look the best on an application, “I have Saturday’s to catch up on any homework” Saturday school was _great_ for that, it gave her an opportunity to really focus on her extra work just to get it out of the way.

 _My Girl <3: 8:25  
_ _Where are you??_    

Kimberly smiled, looking down to her phone and seeing that her girlfriend was texting her. She quickly typed out a response and set it down, she didn’t want to come off as rude. What June thought of Kimberly really mattered, “Sorry, that was Trini”

“Mmm” Mrs. Gomez took a long sip of her coffee, she had something on her mind. The one thing these two women had in common...Trini Gomez. “How is Trini?” She put up a hand, “Don’t lie to me Kimberly. She told me that she was thrown into a lake”

“She _says_ she’s fine” June tilted her head to the side, her mother knew her daughter all too well.

“She’s _not_ fine. She’s stubborn, she gets that from my side of the family” Trini’s charming sense of humor had come from her father’s side, “Obviously she won’t talk to me about it” June was never high on Trini’s list of people to dish out her feelings to, “I know this is overstepping but, can I ask you to keep an eye on her? Make sure she’s _actually_ okay”

“Of course” Kimberly felt comfortable enough to tell Trini’s mother this, “She’s _very_ important to me” She smiled, this was a lot less threatening than a ‘what are your intentions with my daughter?’ conversation. “I love her”

Mrs. Gomez could be comforted by that sentiment, parents _always_ liked Kimberly Hart. She was on track to win class superlative to ‘best person to bring home to the family’. “Good, okay, I worry about her. A lot” The older woman glanced down to her drink, this was supposed to be a nice coffee outing with her daughter’s girlfriend, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to unload this on you. How is everything with the softball team? Are you fitting in nicely with the other girls? I saw your website, trying to fix the field would look great on your applications. If there’s anything I could do to help out let me know”

Oh…..Kimberly would have to ask for forgiveness for this one later, “Well, there’s normally a parent booster that gets involved. With there being five seniors on the team this year it might be nice to do something for them or get a spiritwear sale going. We can have proceeds go to the scoreboard. We have four choices right now of softball apparel. White or carolina hoodie, white or carolina t-shirt...they’re generic” She paused, “Not that I don’t _love_ this hoodie” She loved it because it was her girlfriend’s. “You understand what I mean. I’d ask my dad to get involved, but...well...he has _dad_ taste. He still carries his cell phone on a pouch”  

“Say no more, I’d love to help” June always wanted to get involved in Trini’s life so now Kimberly gave her an opportunity, this was fine...probably.

 _My Girl <3 8:36  
_ _Kim. You need to get here now._

Kimberly frowned, glancing down to her phone, Trini seemed _awfully_ persistent this morning. “I should get going to school” Kim wrote down her phone number on a napkin, it was probably for the best if Mrs. Gomez had her phone number just in case. “In case you need me” Or if Trini happened to “forget” to text, June would have someone to contact to ease her mind. “Thank you again for the coffee Mrs. Gomez”

 _Kimberly Hart 8:40  
_ _I’m on my way. See you soon <3 _

 

*****

When Kimberly entered the school that Friday it felt like she entered the freaking Twilight Zone. Everyone was staring at her, not in a fun way either, the silence in the hall unnerved the sophomore pitcher, did someone die? What the hell was she missing? She quickly found Amanda and Harper chatting in the hallway. Kimberly wanted to greet Amanda with some good news, that her parents were okay with her best friend staying over their house for a bit. Her smile, and potential announcement was cut short as the two cheerleaders looked at Kimberly with a worried expression; confirming Kimberly’s suspicion that something had happened. “What’s going on?” And why was everyone _staring_ at her.

“You don’t know?” Amanda exchanged glances with the shorter cheerleader beside her. Down the hall a couple of police officers entered the school and were headed straight for the principal's office. Was someone hurt? Was there a drug bust? Kimberly _needed_ to find Trini, to make sure that she was okay. “Harper, show her”

The small blonde nodded her head and got out her phone with a pink bedazzled case, opening her videos to show Kimberly what had gone down in the parking lot. Kimberly was absolutely horrified to see the freshman baseball pitcher Riley Griffin stripped down and duct taped to the flagpole. Amanda and Zack were frantically trying to cut him down so he could save face, the slur written on his chest. Tommy and Mike’s argument took up most of the video, god why was Harper videotaping and not _helping_? She couldn’t have been the only one.

Tommy Oliver, the team captain and Kimberly’s ex-boyfriend was on the side of trying to retaliate against Briarwood for what they had done. He wanted to rally up his team. “What’s the matter with you guys? Aren’t you mad? Aren’t you upset by this? We have to go over there and make them pay. Riley is one of our own, so is Trini, we are proudly Angel Grove Tigers. They came into _our_ turf and attacked. We can’t end on _this_ note”

Trini was the one to speak up next, oh god, Kimberly watched as tensions rose between her ex-boyfriend and current girlfriend. “Don’t fucking use me as a reason to make an ass of yourself. They were wrong to pick Riley, clearly they should have tied _you_ to the flagpole. You talk a _big_ game but the second it gets real you want to run away or hide behind some big grand scheme. I’ve got your number Tommy Oliver. You’re nothing but a little shit”

“What did you say to me? You fucking bitch”

The moment Tommy uttered the word bitch, Kimberly had seen _enough_. She had to shut the video down and hand the phone back to Harper. “Where is he?” No. She wasn’t there to protect Trini from the likes of Rebecca the first time, or the second time with the lake, she wasn’t there for this argument but she sure as _hell_ had something to say about this. This was going to be _quite_ the day for the gossip lovers with Trini, Kimberly and Tommy at the center of it. A bi girl, her ex-boyfriend and the lesbian. Fantastic. “Where is he?”

Harper couldn’t take this tension any longer, “He’s in the nurse's office” If she had just _finished_ the video she would have seen Tommy Oliver get clocked by Emily Ava.

“We’ll catch up” Kimberly pointed to Amanda, she had plenty of opportunities to catch up with her friend throughout the day. She hoped Trini could forgive her for seeking out Tommy first but oh she needed to give him a piece of her mind.

Kimberly stormed through the hallway, adjusting her bag on her shoulder as she entered the nurse’s office. There was no more time for polite pleasantries. Tommy was sitting on one of the beds, he had to take off his favorite green hoodie because there had been too much blood from his nose on it. He sat there in a white t-shirt, a small smile appearing on his face at the sight of his ex-girlfriend. Someone had come to see him. “You wanted my attention?” Kimberly set her bag down at her feet, raising her arms dramatically, the princess of Angel Grove had arrived. “Well here I am!” She wasn’t going to let him get a word in, not yet, “I know what you said to her. Where do you get off? That’s my _girlfriend_ ”

“Kim, relax just sit down” Tommy sighed, “I’m sorry, I didn’t actually mean any of that” He looked down to his hands. Emily knocked his pride down and now he was here in the nurse’s office licking his wounds. “Things were just so heated and we were all saying things we didn’t mean”

“No, you don’t get to keep doing that” She folded her arms, her foot tapping as a way to try and calm herself down, “You don’t get throw out apologies like it’s a magic band aid that _fixes_ everything, just to keep making an ass of yourself. And quite frankly an ass of _me._ I’ve stood up for you!” Against Amanda, hell even Trini sometimes, “I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt. You don’t _dare_ talk to my _girlfriend_ like that. Tommy we’ve been over for months now, we’re _not_ getting back together. So please, _please_ get that out of your head ” She shook her head at that, “You told Trini that you’re still in love with me? Dare Night was just what? A way to try and get me to _cheat_ on my girlfriend? What is that?”

Kimberly had Tommy’s number. The baseball captain sighed, hanging his head, yeah that looked pretty bad for him. “What do you want me to say? I miss you, I miss _us_.” 

“Yeah, I miss the Tommy Oliver from the Sandlot.” Kim narrowed her eyes, “What happened to _that_ kid? When did you become so twisted? I’ve been on this path, I’ve lived this _empty_ popular life. You know what I found? Rock bottom. The road you are on is going to eat you up, spit you out and run you over with a semi truck. I gave you the benefit of the doubt, I _know_ how hard your father is on you, and I see a lot of myself in you. Maybe that was my mistake. I _want_ good things for you, but not if you’re going to do this. Grow up, you were voted by your peers to lead this team, and you are letting them down.”

“What happened to Riley…..what happened to Trini” Tommy leaned back on his hands, trying not to move too much to agitate his nose, “I wanted to make Briarwood pay, is that so wrong? No one hurts my people” Funny, he considered Trini his person when he was perfectly okay with trying to take her girl, “When Ty bought roofies off of that kid. We threw him into the _lake_ that’s what we do for our own”

“You have to break this cycle. Doing nothing and rising above is going to irritate them more than any stupid prank you have up your sleeve” Kimberly shook her head, she didn’t even recognize the boy sitting in front of her. He wasn’t the quiet son of the mayor who made her smile anymore. This wasn’t her first love.

“So what...we’re not even going to be friends?” He wanted to salvage _any_ sort of relationship with his ex-girlfriend, even if it were strictly platonic. This moment, Tommy cared more about the girl in front of him than his poor bullied freshman pitcher, “I’m so lost without you in my life” Now this was just getting pathetic. He had friends, he had a baseball team. No, he couldn’t have what he wanted and was acting out like a toddler until he got what he wanted. Kimberly wasn’t going to have it. “...Kim…”

“Be your _own_ lighthouse” Kimberly shook her head, she didn’t have anything else to offer him. “I can’t be friends with someone I don’t trust” He had ulterior motives, he confessed to having ulterior motives. “I’m with Trini now, and I _love_ her, she’s my world. Our chapter’s over Tommy, you _have_ to get over it. She’s my girlfriend and right now she needs me. I don’t have any more energy for you. I’m _done_ .” Kimberly picked up her bag and as quickly as she entered the nurse’s office the quickly she exited, leaving him to pick up the pieces of his shattered heart. She couldn’t waste anymore breath on her ex-boyfriend, right now her mind was on one thing and one thing alone. _Trini_.

**Author's Note:**

> I have actually started chapter 19 of Wild Pitch so I didn't completely stop everything to write this. But that will be what I'm updating next :)
> 
> thank you all for reading these little side snippets!!


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